Doorways – A Shining Star on the Seekonk Landscape

It is 7:30 AM on a cold January morning and they are already lined up, some with children in tow, most with empty shopping bags in hand. Others sit in their cars, keeping warm while waiting for the door at the east end of the old North School in Seekonk to open. All have come to Doorways, Seekonk’s food pantry, for the same reason – they are having a hard time making ends meet and need a hand putting food on the table.

By 7:45 AM, the groceries have all been sorted and neatly stacked on the shelves by long time volunteer Diane Fox and her crew of helpers. A long banquet size table in the hallway is filled with bread, rolls and even some pastry treats. Coolers are stocked with frozen meat. Eggs, canned goods, pasta, peanut butter, cereal, and so much more are all there for the taking. When the doors open at 8am, a team of volunteers is ready to greet them with a warm smile or a hug. Most of the people are regulars, and most on this day are senior citizens, but not all. Some are single parents. Some are families. Some come with a letter in hand from their church; the regulars have made their way here through contact with Seekonk Human Services. A few may have simply heard that they could get a helping hand and are here for the first time.

The first in line enters the hall and signs in. A volunteer greets her with a hug, the only one she receives all week she says. She puts her empty bags in her grocery cart and along with another volunteer, makes her way down the aisle, filling her cart with food that will help sustain her for the week ahead.

Another day has begun.

Doorways is a faith based all volunteer organization that provides groceries for Seekonk residents down on their luck. It was started back in 2001 when a few town residents, David Francis and Doug Hayward among them, wanted to do something to give back to the town that they loved. According to Hayward, many ideas were tossed around before someone at town hall suggested a food pantry, and so on November 7, at the old Choquette house in Rehoboth, Doorways opened for the first time. At the time they didn’t know what to expect, but by the end of the day seven single mothers would have enough groceries to put food on their table for the entire week. “Word got around”, according to Francis, and by the end of December they were serving 75 families a week.

Soon it was apparent that they needed to find a larger home so they moved to the former Liz Claiborne warehouse in Seekonk until it was sold. Today they occupy space donated by the South Coast Educational Collaborative (SCEC) at the North School. Through the Collaborative’s generosity they have four large classroom size rooms, a long hallway, an office and a bathroom. According to Francis, the relationship with SCEC is “a good marriage”. Students at the Collaborative get basic lessons as they break down the many cardboard boxes that Doorways accumulates. But once the boxes are flattened they are brought to a recycling facility in Fall River and exchanged for money giving the students with another lesson about the value of working and earning money.

In a town where the median household income hovers around $76,826 according to a 2015 US Census Bureau estimate, Doorways has provided over 1 million pounds of food to needy families in the fifteen years since it opened. Staggering numbers in a town where most of the residents own their own homes, yet the need is so obviously there. Doorways continues to serve on average 65 families a week.

They have been able to do this thanks to the generosity of its community partners. Stop and Shop on Newman Avenue and Price Rite on Taunton Avenue both are huge supporters. In fact a former store manager at Stop and Shop is now on the Doorways Board of Directors. Donations include bread, pastries and frozen meat.

In addition, donation boxes are placed at various locations around town, including the Seekonk Public Library, as well as at area churches and businesses.

Yet another source of donations comes in the form of food drives, such as those conducted by the Boy Scouts in November and the postal workers in May (which collects between three and five thousand pounds of food). “Most people don’t even realize that all the food collected in those drives stays in Seekonk”, says Francis.

Still other drives are conducted by the local schools. In December alone, all four Seekonk schools combined to collect over 2000 items to Doorways. Also in December, local Girl Scout Troops 707 and 470 held a huge toy drive, with over 200 good quality toys donated to local children.

Support is also received by local Boy Scouts in the form of home deliveries. Between six and ten homebound residents receive a personal delivery of bags of groceries each week.

The organization is also fortunate to receive donations of time and talent with over 100 volunteers working in one of a dozen teams of ten who keep the operation running smoothly. Four teams make weekly pickups at Stop and Shop and Price Rite. Others unload delivery trucks. Although most of the groceries are donated, Doorways still needs to purchase some items from the Greater Boston Food Bank. These purchases are funded in part by the monetary donations received in response to Doorways annual fundraising drive in November.

And volunteers come in all ages. On a recent Saturday, Hurley Middle School student Josh Troiano was fulfilling his community service requirement by helping out at Doorways, a task that didn’t seem like work at all he said.

And then there are individuals in Seekonk who choose to remain anonymous but make a huge contribution. Hayward tells the story of a local businessman who donates 40 turkeys at Thanksgiving along with baskets filled with over $200 of “fixings”.
Francis’ praise for the Seekonk community is effusive. “The support we receive from town residents, the schools, the business community is over-whelming. It makes me proud to call Seekonk home.”

To find out more about Doorways, and to use their services, residents should contact Bernadette Huck at Seekonk Human Services. She can be reached at (508) 336-8772. Monetary donations can be made by sending a check payable to Doorways, PO Box 295, Seekonk, MA 02771.

And volunteers are also always needed. Fox is especially looking for younger volunteers who can help out every other Wednesday from 12-2pm sorting groceries and stocking shelves. To volunteer, call Polly Hayward at 508-761-6380.